Visit Home
by futuremrsbates99
Summary: 6th in 'Accepted Invitation' series. This is 'The Lazarus Project', Donna style. This series is rapidly becoming a full on Doctor/Donna romancefic, might continue this series into series 4 re-writes as well? What do you say, would appreciate some more feedback! I'M BACK WRITING AGAIN!
1. Argument on Arrival

Doctor POV

She walked in to the kitchen - the same way she did every morning - looking cheerful as ever after a good night's sleep. The kettle boiled and I poured up the tea just as she sat down, she greeted me with a peck on the cheek and grabbed a slice of toast.

"Where are we off today then?" She asked me, looking hopefully at my eyes.

"I promised you a trip home, so that's where we're going. I've never spent much time in Chiswick, it should be interesting!" I genuinely felt enthusiastic but Donna gave me her 'Don't mock me!' face and I went back to focusing on my breakfast.

After she was dressed and ready to go, she came in to the control room and walked over to where I was stood near the controls.

"We've landed." Breathing deeply, she made her way to the door slowly.

"I suppose I'll see you in a bit then. When are you coming to get me?" She enquired, not looking back as she spoke.

"Oh, I was going to come with you but it's alright then, when do you want me to come and get you?" I was disappointed that she wanted to go back alone but I didn't let it show.

"You can come if you like but it's gonna be really boring for you, you don't have to come just for me." She was pulling on her jacket as she talked, the same one she had worn to New New York.

"I'd like to come...if you don't mind. I could see Wilf again too." I said, hoping she wouldn't mind too much if came, and she smiled at me happily.

"Come on then Spaceman, I hope your ready for a day of domesticity, and preferably no alien invasions!" I grabbed her hand and pulled her out in to the street, we'd landed a little further up the road than last time, but it was still the same street and the same house halfway down. "How long has it been, since we left?"

"It's February 14th 2009, we've been gone almost two months." I stated, hoping I was right and this wasn't another Rose disaster.

"Did you have to land on Valentines Day?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow at me cheekily. We continued walking up the suburban street, looking around at the normality of planet Earth.

"Well of course, I always land on the most important holidays." I grinned, squeezing her hand a little tighter and then letting it loose so she could knock on the door. As soon as she banged on the door, she reached straight back down to find my hand again, I took it gladly but couldn't help wondering why she would feel nervous returning to her own home.

Donna POV

I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing everyone back home, mainly because of the stick Mum would give me for not getting in touch while I was gone, but I had the Doctor to support me through the ordeal.

The door swung open and my Mum stood there, gaping mouth and angry expression.

"Where on Earth have you been madame? Two months and we haven't heard anything from you, we assumed you were dead or married off to some foreigner! Get inside now." She exclaimed and then caught sight of the Doctor, who was hanging back slightly behind me. "Did you really have to bring him? Oh just get in here!" I rolled my eyes and looked back at the Doctor, he looked a little scared although after living with me for almost a month, my Mum wasn't _that _much worse.

"I told you I was going travelling, maybe you should have been listening when I told you."

"Oi, don't get lippy with me Miss! You could've called!" _Yeah course Mum, they have phone signal on different planets! _I thought.

"Sorry, I was busy and it costs a fortune to call from abroad." I spoke in a mellow tone, not wanting to awaken the beast that was my mother. "I only came back for a visit though, I've sort of made a life for myself out in Italy and I'm thinking of moving out there." The Doctor was still stood beside me, holding my hand, and he hadn't said a word since we came in - I felt guilty for making go through this, even if he had asked to come.

"WHAT?" Mum shouted. "You can tell your father about this because I'm not going to, you want to move to Italy? Are you crazy or just stupid?" I ground my teeth in anger but managed to hold my tongue, not that the Doctor did.

"Excuse me, I may not know you very well Mrs. Noble but I would appreciate if you didn't call Donna stupid, you should be proud of her for everything she has achieved over the past couple of months." I stared at him wide-eyed, terrified of what Mum would say to him - she could ruin everything for me if this went badly.

"I will say what I like to _my _daughter under _my _roof, I take no pride in having a daughter who goes off gallivanting with complete strangers to god-knows-where!" I watched as she shouted at him and he stood there like a deer in headlights.

"Stop it Mum, he's only trying to defend me, if you're gonna have a go at anyone, have a go at me. I'm the only reason he's here anyway." My hand was still holding on to his, Mum hadn't noticed at first but it must have caught her eye as she turned.

"Oh my god, are you two...?" She wasn't speaking in the same angered tone, she just sounded shocked and looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. I looked at the Doctor to wager his reaction and his eyes just said 'it's your choice' so I thought Mum would be easier to stand if she thought I'd found myself a bloke.

"Yeah, but we're not serious or anything." I stated so she didn't jump to conclusions and start talking about weddings and babies.

"Well that explains things, I'm going to get Dad and Geoff off that ruddy hill then you can tell us all about Italy!" She ran off out of the patio door looking mildly excited.


	2. Family

Doctor POV

I watched as both Wilf and Geoff greeted Donna, pleased by how happy they looked. Wilf came to give me a quick hug, saying it had been a while and I agreed, winking at him. We all sat down in the front room with a cup of tea and Donna started talking about Italy, she was coming up with a very believable cover story and even I was starting to think she must have been there to know this much about the country.

"So, you and our Donna ey?" Geoff asked, and I nodded enthusiastically before squeezing Donna's hand affectionately. "You gonna make an honest woman of her then?" Donna almost choked on her tea, telling her Dad that wasn't the kind of thing he should be saying but I just laughed and leaned over to Geoff.

"Ah, you see I would but I don't think I've quite persuaded her to have me yet. She's stubborn as a mule, but cute as a button." I looked back at her and she was already deep in conversation with her Mum again.

"I think you might have bowled her over, I haven't seen her look at a bloke that way since...well ever." I'd been worried about appearing as Donna's 'boyfriend' in front of her family but they all seemed to welcome the idea gladly.

After everyone else had finished their tea they left the room, only me and Donna were still sat there. We'd kept out hands held almost all the time we'd been there, only briefly letting go so we could greet the men. At first I thought it was because she needed reassurance but now it just felt comfortable, like we were supposed to keep hold forever.

"Sorry about all of this, it's just I knew Mum would calm down a little if she thought we were...you know...'dating'" She even did the air quotes around the word dating, she moved up so there was no gap between us and smiled. "It's just a Mum thing, if I've got myself a man then there's nothing wrong with whatever else I do."

"It's okay Donna, I don't care how people see us, if you want I'll tell her we're engaged! The only thing I care about is how we see each other." I gave her a quick peck on the cheek before shifting so that I was facing her, so I could see when she replied.

"And how do we see each other Doctor?" Donna asked me, looking at our intertwined hands rather than at my face.

"Well I don't know about you but I see the beautiful red-haired fiesty woman who turned up on my TARDIS in her wedding dress, the woman I've been helplessly falling in love with ever since." She looked up and met my gaze before rolling her eyes doubtfully.

"Well I see the wonderful man who kidnapped me on my wedding day then took me on adventures with him, the man I fell in love with the first time he saved my life." I grinned at her, wondering what she was going through that excellent mind of hers and I leaned in - just an inch or so - towards her lips.

She willingly closed the gap and pressed her lips against mine, a slight curve on her lips as we kissed. It was filled with meaning and honesty, rather than angst-ridden passion - it meant love, and loyalty, and friendship.

Donna POV

Me and Gramps sat at the top of the hill, The Doctor was still inside talking with Dad about something and Mum was on the phone to Suzette.

"So sweet'art, now you can tell me what you've really been up to, ey?" He asked and I nodded, the Doctor had said I could tell him as much as I wanted so I started from the beginning.

"Well, you know there was all that business with that hospital on the moon? Yeah, we were there and then..." I went on explaining all our travels to him in detail, pausing to explain to him the time travel which I'd missed out last time.

"This all sounds a bit dangerous Donna, are you sure you're safe? Is he looking after you properly?" His eye was still squinting at a far off star through his telescope, but he pulled away to look at me.

"Oh Gramps, it's all just so amazing! _He's _amazing! I love him to bits and he's shown me so much, I don't think I could ever go back to the way my life was before." I was talking honestly to him for the first time in what seemed like ages, before I left I'd always tell him I was doing something with Nerys when really I wasn't doing anything - I became a spectator, watching the world go by while I just existed.

"So that wasn't just something you said to make your Mum happy, you really are together?" He sounded slightly surprised but I just nodded, looking back down towards the house where the Doctor was.

After an hour or so, we headed back to the house for a cup of tea with everyone else. The Doctor had been helping Mum with cooking dinner, she seemed to be in a relatively good mood. Our family would have looked vaguely normal to an outsider, but they would never know that the newest family member is an alien. He looked up when I walked in then smiled before continuing with the vegetables he was preparing.

"Why are you so happy? I thought you didn't want to come home." He teased, whispering in my ear as he placed down a serving dish on the table, I rolled my eyes and went on thinking about dinner. When he sat down I leant over to him and said it was because this felt like family, he smirked and then went about serving himself dinner.

This really was what family felt like.


	3. Old Friends

Donna POV

We'd seen something weird on the news about an event and decided we should probably check it out, it was a formal thing so I was in a dress and heels, the Doctor was in a tux.

"This is kind of like a first date, huh?" He said as he linked his arm in mine, I giggled before nodding.

"Suppose so, this is definitely the first without any monsters trying to kill us." I teased, happy he was in as good a mood as me.

"Really Donna? Did you _have _to jinx it?" He asked in mock-frustration. "Our one chance at a normal human date and you had to go and jinx it!"

"I didn't think that timelords believed in luck, I assumed that if you see the turn of the universe, you know there isn't some greater power that's driving it, only our decisions."

"Just because I can see the universe doesn't mean I understand every last inch of it! Now come on, it's freezing! And I don't want to miss this whatever it is." I stole the psychic paper from his pocket and walked up to the guy at the door. "Oi! That's mine!"

"Hello, we might not be on your list, we were a bit of a last minute invitation but trust me, Mr. Lazarus is expecting us to be here." _Head of National Scientific Discoveries_. "A company representative has to be attending this event, otherwise anything will be carted off as public property." After looking us up and down, he moved aside so we could walk in.

"Nice job Donna, you're getting good at this!" The Doctor said before tapping me on the shoulder and pointing across the room, I followed his finger to see what he was looking at. There was Martha Jones, presumably with her family, drinking a cocktail and laughing with the person stood next to her. I pulled the Doctor along with me to go and speak to her and she saw us straight away. "Martha Jones! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, my sister got a job as Mr. Lazarus' P.A. so we all got invited to the publicity release. Only reason I came is because I thought if something weird's going on and I'm the first to find out about it, it might get me a boost at work." Martha explained, both me and the Doctor raised a eyebrow - how could anything like this help a trainee Doctor? - so she continued. "I'm not studying medicine anymore, I'm training at UNIT. That day with you two, it made me believe it was all real and I couldn't get over a day like that and go back to working in that hospital like nothing had happened. So I signed up as a trainee."

"I can help speed you along if you like, I get on very well with some of the people in charge. I'm pleased they'll be another familiar face on the team next time I get involved with them." I had no idea what UNIT was but I didn't want to seem stupid so I assumed it was some kind of government organization to do with aliens.

The night went reasonably well until the man himself came out to show his 'invention' and almost killed everyone in the building. God knows how but he de-aged himself - something the Doctor didn't like the concept of. We met him and he seemed to be a complete prat, he went off to talk with his wife - who now appeared old enough to be his grandmother - and the three of us went to find out exactly what he had become.

Unlike Martha, I didn't understand everything the Doctor was saying but I understood that having mutating DNA was never a good thing - and Lazarus did. We found his 'wife' dead and drained of life but he wasn't there with her. I soon began to believe in jinxes and swore to myself I would never tempt fate again.

Doctor POV

Things just continued to get worse, Lazarus had taken a liking to Martha's sister Tish so it wasn't like she could just be sacrificed. We found the pair of them - alone - on the roof and seemingly just in time. After that there was lot of running - getting everyone out of the building and escaping the new form of Lazarus - for everyone. I'd assumed that _everyone _had left when I told them to but I should be so lucky, I found Martha and Donna both coming to find me. I would have complained at them but there wasn't really time, we were being chased by a very large new lifeform, everything else could be dealt with later.

It was an extremely tight squeeze inside the capsule but it was the only thing I knew Lazarus wouldn't tear apart to find and kill us. We all almost ended up as toddlers but luckily I managed to get us out of that situation - eventually. We found him - supposedly dead - and thought we were out of danger's way but I knew it couldn't last very long. A being like that - so determined to live - wasn't going to die easily.

We found him in the church, Me, Donna, Martha and Tish, all watched this 76-year-old mutation of a human writhing in agony as he became something else. I felt absolutely terrible to put the three women in such danger but the only way to stop him now was to get him to bell tower and I was going to be otherwise engaged. They had to act as the bait, I was terrified for the whole five minutes, thinking _what if he gets to Donna? _I was constantly putting her in danger and I cared about her too much for anything to happen to her, and once again I managed to keep all three of them alive - though barely.


	4. Headed Home

Donna POV

After saying goodbye to Martha and Tish, we headed back to my house and told my family we'd be leaving again in the morning. Any longer and we'd start seeming domestic, something neither of us could handle. It'd been a rough couple of days and we were ready to go back to what we considered normality.

"So, where have you two been all night? It's almost midnight for heaven's sake!" I almost rolled my eyes at my Mother but managed not to, I was too tired to deal with her right now.

"The whole thing turned out as a bit of a disaster, honestly Mum, you should be thanking him, everyone who went would be dead if it wasn't for him! He saved a couple hundred lives tonight, and it was tiring for everyone there so we're off to bed." Ever since we'd told her about our 'relationship' she didn't seem to have a problem with us sharing a bed - not that anything had gone on - neither of us had the nerve to in this houe.

"G'night Sylvia, Geoff." The both of us headed upstairs, I practically collapsed on to the bed in exhaustion and he laughed at me! I couldn't believe he had the nerve, I don't think he quite knows how many stairs there are in the church, it was a great workout though! "Are you going to get changed or just sleep in your clothes?"

"I don't actually have the energy to walk to the bathroom right now so I'm staying as I am. I don't really care, and neither do you. Come here, I want to get some sleep but I'm still unnerved by that ordeal and it's cold in here." I stated, prompting him to come and join me, he obliged after turning off the light and removing his shoes and suit. I feel asleep wrapped in his arms and all I could think about was how I couldn't wait to be back in my bed on the TARDIS, it was a lot more comfortable, no matter who I was sharing this bed with.

Doctor POV

The next morning we had breakfast with the Noble family and left after saying our goodbyes. As soon as we got back in to the TARDIS, I heard Donna sigh relieved - she whispered her greetings to the console - and head straight for the bedroom. Almost an hour later she came back out, looking rather annoyed and I asked her what was wrong.

"Could you please ask your spaceship why she's decided to start ignoring me?" I frowned wondering what she meant, the TARDIS seemed fine to me but I did as she asked. _She won't let me inside her mind, I don't understand, but I can't speak to her. _Oh great, not something had happened to Donna as well. "What is it? I know that face, it's your 'why can't we ever have a normal day' face."

"Yeah it is, she's been trying to talk to you but you've got a mental barrier up against and now I have to figure out why. Come here." She sat down beside me and I put my hands on each side of her head, trying to see inside her mind. It was easy enough once I'd broken through to figure out why it was there - it was backfeed from being inside the machine - completely harmless, and temporary. "It's all fine, try speaking to the TARDIS now." I watched a smile spread across as her face and knew that it had worked, it was a simple thing to do really.

"What are you thinking? Now you've got your 'why can't life be easy all the time?' face on." And I looked at her - _How does this woman know me so well? _- with an intense glare.

"It's just I want you to be that happy every minute of your life, I don't like seeing any other expression on your face. You look so much more gorgeous when you're happy and anyway how do you know me so well? Do I have a face for every single thought that runs through my mind?" She had a smug grin on her face.

"No, just the majority, and perhaps you should get someone braver to travel with you, someone who won't scream when they're about to get killed by a massive alien-apparently-human monster!" _Yeah right, _I thought, _the only person braver than Donna was Leela and she was a time-travelling cavewoman!_

"So where do you fancy going tomorrow? There's not much point in going anywhere today so we can just pop the TARDIS in the vortex and have a day indoors." I suggested, after an ordeal like that on Earth I didn't really want to go looking for more troublestraight away.

"I don't care, just something really alien, I feel way to normal after these past couple days. Life with you isn't supposed to feel normal and human." I didn't have any particular place in mind, I'd think of something by tomorrow though, I always did.

"You're probably right, I think I'm going to go and find something to eat, want to join me?" We headed to the kitchen together and sat down with some banana bread, it was shop bought so didn't taste as good as Donna's but it was fine for now. Donna is one of the best cooks ever, she tops most restaraunt food - even on different planets.

After we'd washed the dishes I heard Donna laugh a little as we were walking down the hallway.


	5. Story Of Her Life

Donna POV

"What are we watching?" He asked and I rolled my eyes before picking out the same DVD box I always did, and waving it at him. "Really, again? Don't you ever get bored of that film?!" He pleaded, I'd watched it over a hundred times since I'd started travelling with him, at first there was only a mild connection but now it was completely obvious why I loved it. I put 'The Time Travellers Wife' in to the television and walking towards the couch.

"When you fall for a time-travelling alien this film becomes more of a guidebook for how to live your life. I want to make sure you don't go dissapearing off for months then coming back to me on the brink of death." I teased, he knew that the only reason I liked this film was because it made so many references to time travel only we could understand. The Doctor grabbed my waist and pulled me on to his lap, I shifted to the side of him as fast as humanly possible before leaning in to rest my head on his shoulder, I was praying he'd just accepted but I knew it was pointless.

"You're not going to squash me Donna, seriously! I can recall many a time when you've had no problem sitting on me." He stated flirtily and earned himself a smack on the chest, _what a tart!_ "Oi! Now come here or I'll throw this film in to the next black hole we see!" He threatened and I narrowed my eyes at him, he wouldn't dare. Pulling me once again on to his lap, my muscles tensed and I stayed completely still as he shifted beneath me, then I relaxed slightly as the film began to start.

Through the whole film he tried to distract me, stroking my arm, kissing my neck, nibbling at my ear - he held up his ministrations at least half way through and I realized he wasn't going to give in, so I turned the tables. I flipped the pair of us over so that he was laid beneath me and gave him a chaste kiss before turning my attention back to the screen, leaving him hanging. I managed another five minutes of the movie before I heard him rifling around in his pocket, he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and god forbid, he blew up the television! I could have screamed but I looked down at him, he had his puppy-dog eyes and a hopeful grin, he was just too adorable.

Half an hour later we were laid in exactly the same place, just with a lot less clothes on, he always seemed to find a way to get around me but then again it wasn't exactly torture for me. How could this gorgeous, impossible alien ever love me? _Because you're a gorgeous impossible earthling!_

"Is it possible for the TARDIS to be going mad in her old age?" I enquired slightly more seriously than intended. He furrowed his brow before telling me it was impossible and asking me why. "Just something she said, it's completely impossible so either she's going mad or telling me lies."

"Well let me clarify for you, what did she say? He asked, why was it everything I spoke about to the TARDIS was something I couldn't speak about with him.

"Nothing important." I made quick work of distracting him, there wasn't much real thinking for a while after that.

Doctor POV

How can she actually be this amazing? It's impossible for any human being to be this extraordinary as far as I'm concerned, there's no way that she's a normal woman who was destined to live out the rest domestically if I hadn't 'kidnapped' her on her wedding day. The most astonishing part is that she doesn't even know how brilliant she is, and she won't accept when people tell her that she is.

"Are you sure you're from Earth?" I asked aloud, perhaps this was some master plan and in fact she wasn't a human but a genetically engineered android that was programmed to conceal her identity from me.

"What the hell are you talking about Spaceman? I ain't some bloody martian you know!" _No, _I thought, _there was no way in the universe that someone could create anyone as fiesty as Donna Noble._

"Nothing love, just thinking about something." This incredible woman had helped me through so much, even though I never managed to succeed when it came to supporting her through hard times. She deserved a break so that's what I intended to give her, although knowing my track record we'll probably end up at death's door wherever we start our day. "You know I'm sorry for everything right?" I hadn't necessarily meant to say it out loud, I'd intended to play out the conversation in my head first and imagine her reaction, now I didn't have much choice but to find out.

"For what?" She turned to look at me, a worried expression across her face, with her eyebrows raised expectantly.

"For this, everything I put you through. When I asked you to come, I told you I'd show the beauty of the universe but all you've seen is how dangerous it can be. I'm sorry for making you suffer all the pain and making you live a life that you didn't deserve - I've been selfish."

"I've seen more beauty in this world while I've been with you than the whole of my life put together, you've let me in to your life and shown me the life you lead. You haven't been selfish, you could've have gone on a rampage trying to destroy anyone who ever did any wrong, but instead you help. It's one of my favourite things about you, you're never looking for revenge and you never kill unless you have to - you've got your own version of the hipocratical oath Doctor." She stated, she always makes me sound like such a hero and like I'm an amazing person who's never done anything bad when really I've done more harm to the universe than most criminals compiled.

All I did was smile, there were no words to show my gratitude because we both understood self-doubt on a similar level - we had an unspoken code not to directly contradict how much we didn't believe in ourselves no matter how much we tried to persuade the other person how brilliant they were.

"I love you Donna." Strange how those three words could mean so much more, I'd always known I felt it but I'd never really said it aloud before.

"Love you too Doctor."


	6. Diaries

Donna POV

I'd moved completely into his bedroom now as we almost always shared a bed anyway, both of us had diaries so we had an agreement that it was 'an eye for an eye'. I got down to filling in tonight's entry;

_Dear Diary,_

_These past couple days have been all over the place, we went home for a visit - the Doctor came too - and it turns out we couldn't even manage a weekend without an alien-style invasion. It wasn't even a full day before we saw something suspicious on the news and had to go and check it. So it turned out that the one time we come to visit some madman tries to change humanity and de-age himself - he turned in to some kind of weird alien-looking creature even though the Doctor said it was human. We saw Martha, her sister had become the madman's P.A. so she was invited to the party as well - we used the psychic paper as usual. I almost died again, I was terrified but the feeling has become too familiar now, the only thing that truly worried me was the thought of the Doctor not being there everytime something awful happened. _

_My family know about me and the Doctor being a couple now, they were all pleased and we were happy - something's wrong with him though. He seems sort of distant at times, like he's always got something weighing on his conscience and he keeps apologizing for being so selfish - yeah I know. He's brilliant and kind and generous and I've fallen in love with him - god knows what'll happen if ever he leaves me. I want to help him but I know I can't, I don't feel everything he does - he's lived through so much loss and pain, I'd be tired of living. That's my anecdote for today._

_Goodnight._

__The Doctor was never willing to accept when he needed help, he'd try to struggle along on his own and then things would turn out worse in the end, perhaps I should speak to him about it.

Doctor POV

Across from me, Donna was filling in her diary so I began to do the same.

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't know what has happened to me now, things are even stranger than usual. I can't go a single day without there being some kind of a disaster - even on Earth! I took Donna to go and see her family - who now know we're a couple and probably assume we're living together in Italy. Well anyway, there was a mad scientist who decided he wanted to de-age himself, but the process stole his humanity. He became a soulless monster who was near immortal - he became a mutated form of humanity. We bumped in to Martha again - she's training for UNIT now - and I don't know what it is about that woman but she always seems to be there when trouble arrives. Donna became even closer to death than usual today and it terrified me, ever since we became a proper 'couple' if you can call us that, putting her in danger scares me more than anything. _

_Donna seems concerned about me - I'm not sure why, I'm probably just acting differently but it worries me when she does that. She spends all her time thinking about me and what I'm feeling and not nearly enough time thinking about herself - I know that humans are supposed to be a selfless species but she is a saint even then. One of the reasons I love her is because she won't ever do anything for herself if it endangers someone else._

_Goodnight._

By the time I was done, her diary was back in her drawer and she was laid down, looking directly at me as I wrote but she couldn't see the page, nor would she want to. I put my diary down on the side before sliding down so my head was on the pillow and letting her rest her head on my shoulder, I kissed her forehead before she drifted off to sleep - and I soon folowed her.


End file.
